The letter came with the morning bell—marked with the royal crest and sealed with red wax.
"You've been summoned," Serena said, sliding it across the breakfast table. Her voice was careful, too careful.
My fingers closed over the parchment. A summons at this hour? The court rarely called anyone from the Academy unless...
Unless something had been leaked.
I arrived to find the chamber already half-filled. Lords in deep blue cloaks. Advisors. Two members of the Royal Guard. No one looked directly at me.
At the center of the table—
A ledger.
My ledger.
Except, not the one I received from Maren.
It was a copy. Heavily edited. Stripped of context. Highlighted to suggest misappropriation and treachery.
Someone had moved faster than I expected.
Reina's move.
"Lady Elira Winterose," an advisor said, rising. "Are you aware that students under your direction were compiling unauthorized reports on noble families?"
I met his gaze evenly. "No such reports were ordered by me."
"Then how do you explain this?"
The ledger was slid forward, open to a marked page—
A list of magical supply channels tied to House Averlar.
I couldn't speak without revealing Maren. I couldn't deny without seeming complicit. Every answer was a trap.
Reina had thrown the bait, and now the court waited to see if I'd bite.